Wyden Statement on Rural Health Slush Fund News

Wyden Statement on Rural Health Slush Fund News

Washington, D.C. - Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released guidance on how states can seek money from the rural health care slush fund created in the Republican budget bill.

"It's shameful that the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are pretending that this slush fund is anything more than a Band-Aid on an amputation," Wyden said. "This slush fund is a drop in the bucket for rural health care providers already operating on a shoestring budget compared to the historic, devastating health care cuts Republicans created in Trumpcare. In addition, it's clear to anyone watching this unfold this fund is going to be focused toward states whose governors support the ideological agenda of the Trump administration and used to dole out political favors to Trump's cronies and Republican members of Congress who know that these health care cuts will be a catastrophe for rural health care."

Today's announcement makes clear that Republicans are not using this fund to keep hospitals open in rural America; rather, the Trump administration is using these taxpayer dollars to accelerate its backwards health care agenda and engage in self-dealing, like incentivizing states to offer junk insurance and wearable health technology.

###